Robert Swift's roommate sentenced as ex-Sonic faces trial

'I am shocked at the path I chose to go down'

Updated 3:54 pm, Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Photo: King County Assessor's Office

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A Kirkland home owned by Trygve "Trigg" Bjorkstam, located 300 feet from Helen Keller Elementary School. Prosecutors say Bjorkstam was dealing heroin and meth out of the home, and had built a bunker beneath it.

A Kirkland home owned by Trygve "Trigg" Bjorkstam, located 300 feet from Helen Keller Elementary School. Prosecutors say Bjorkstam was dealing heroin and meth out of the home, and had built a bunker beneath it.

Photo: King County Assessor's Office

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Robert Swift, pictured in a file photo.

Robert Swift, pictured in a file photo.

Photo: Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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Sonics center Robert Swift, pictured in a file photo.

Sonics center Robert Swift, pictured in a file photo.

Photo: Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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Sonics center Robert Swift, pictured early in his NBA career.

Sonics center Robert Swift, pictured early in his NBA career.

Photo: / Associated Press

Robert Swift's roommate sentenced as ex-Sonic faces trial

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Trygve Bjorkstam and Robert Swift made something of an odd pair.

Swift, a towering ex-Seattle SuperSonic loved by some fans during the team’s final days in Seattle. Bjorkstam, a 50-ish engineer who’d lived the workaday life for decades.

But, prosecutors say, the men shared two destructive passions – drugs and guns. They also shared a home, Brjorkstam’s Kirkland house, a block from an elementary school.

Now, Bjorkstam is headed to federal prison for drug dealing and gun crimes while Swift is slated to face a jury next month on a state gun charge. Bjorkstam has admitted to dealing drugs to Swift, who, he explained, acted as his enforcer in a failed attempt to collect a drug debt.

Bjorkstam, 55, previously admitted to drug and gun offenses in exchange for an agreement from prosecutors that they would recommend a four-year prison term. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour delivered that sentence Tuesday.

Known to friends as “Trigg,” Bjorkstam drew the attention of Redmond police in August. Officers investigating drug-related crimes found their way to Bjorkstam’s Kirkland home, located less than a block away from Helen Keller Elementary School.

Police raided his home on Oct. 2, arresting him and Swift. Searching the home, police found heroin and methamphetamine in quantities consistent with low-level drug dealing. They also seized 18 guns from parts of the house accessible to Bjorkstam, as well as seven guns from Swift’s room.

According to prosecutors, Swift was found to have a 40 mm grenade launcher as well as several silencers. Both appear to have been properly licensed, though Swift has been charged in state court with possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

Below the home, investigators found a bunker that apparently housed a marijuana grow before being converted into a shooting range.

The crimes marked a low point for Bjorkstam, a Bellevue-raised University of Washington graduate who for 27 years worked as a Boeing contractor. He was laid off in 2012 and soon lost himself in drugs.

“I made some horrifically bad choices and went down the wrong path,” Bjorkstam said in a letter to the court. “All of those disgraceful choices and their consequences have left me filled with nothing but shame and regret.

“Looking back, I am shocked at the path I chose to go down.”

Bjorkstam went on to say that people he’s met through recovery have helped him see the pain he caused. He apologized to his family, friends and community for his decisions.

Writing the court, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hobbs said Swift admitted to working as an enforcer on one occasion after a dealer took $2,000 from Bjorkstam and failed to deliver any heroin.

Swift “said they confronted the drug dealer but did not get any drugs or money back,” Hobbs said in court papers.

“People have been ripping me off,” Bjorkstam explained to police. “Rob and I are trying to put a stop to that.”

Swift is alleged to have described Bjorkstam as his heroin dealer. According to court papers, both men described themselves as addicts.

Bjorkstam’s heroin dealing appears to have stemmed from his drug use. He told police he’d been dealing for six months to pay his bills and support his methamphetamine use.

Bjorkstam would’ve faced a mandatory five-year prison term had he been convicted as initially charged. Bjorkstam ultimately pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Currently jailed, he is expected to be transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons in coming weeks.

Swift is currently free. Having pleaded not guilty to the state gun charge, he is slated to face a King County jury in mid-August.